The Supreme Court has a giant legitimacy crisis, which means so does America

[Nevilledog]

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Will Bunch
@Will_Bunch
Something is deeply disturbing about the Ginni Thomas mess - beyond her crazy texts and any link to Clarence. All of it - justice for Trump and J6, Senate sanity - seems to be headed off a cliff

We are losing SCOTUS, and with it, America. My new column

inquirer.com
The Supreme Court has a giant legitimacy crisis, which means so does America | Will Bunch
A runaway Supreme Court facing a massive conflict-of-interest scandal and increasing politicization is testing faith in the American Experiment.
9:29 AM · Mar 27, 2022

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/supreme-court-ginni-thomas-legitimacy-20220327.html

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https://archive.ph/iefcL


Earlier this month, a speech warning about the dangers of politicizing the U.S. Supreme Court was delivered in Utah by an authoritative, insider source, who cautioned that “[a]t some point the institution is going to be compromised.” He voiced his growing concern that eventually we could “chip away at the respect of the institutions that the next generation is going to need if they’re going to have civil society.”

The next generation should be very, very afraid. The speaker was Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving member of the High Court, and that his words were delivered inside a swank hotel to benefit a foundation run by a partisan Republican who’d played a key role in shifting the court rightward, former Sen. Orrin Hatch, was neither the biggest irony, nor the most outrageous.

Less than two weeks later, D.C. journalists Bob Woodward — yes, the Watergate Bob Woodward! — and Robert Costa published a bombshell scoop about a lengthy series of politically explosive text messages that the justice’s wife, Virginia, or Ginni, Thomas — well-known in the capital as a right-wing activist — sent to Donald Trump’s then-top aide, chief of staff Mark Meadows. The messages show that between President Biden’s November 2020 election victory and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, Ginni Thomas was aggressively lobbying the White House to overturn the result — a battle that might well have ended up before her husband’s Supreme Court.

On so many different levels, the Ginni Thomas-Meadows communications are deeply disturbing. The most immediate question is arguably the most specific one: Is Justice Thomas’ integrity tainted by all of this?There’s no clear indication from the texts that Ginni Thomas took up her unsupported claims of election fraud with her husband; her one allusion to “my best friend” — the top Thomas watchers like the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer say that’s almost certainly Clarence — isn’t overtly political. We do know, however, that Justice Thomas was the court’s lone vote against turning over key Trump records to the House committee investigating January 6 — a vote many experts in legal ethics find troubling, as do I and many regular folks.

*snip*

[kentuck]

1. Given enough time...

You knew Trump would corrupt the Court just like he did every other branch of government.

[SoonerPride]

2. When McConnell stole Garlands seat SCOTUS lost all credibility

The court hasn’t had legitimacy in at least 5 years

[CrispyQ]

3. All three Trump justices are tainted.

Every. Fucking. One.

Is anyone surprised? Everything Trump touches turns to shit.

[happy feet]

5. This!

[SoCalDavidS]

4. America IS An Illegitimate Country

The people anxious to come here, are primarily from Truly Awful countries. Those with a choice, won't come near us.

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. The "American experiment" is a failure

it's becoming increasingly clear that a majority of American whites resent the idea of a multi-ethnic democracy, and will pervert elections through fraud and force to maintain white supremacy.

[Chainfire]

8. That is probably correct at the voter level.

But it is an entirely different story for those with big bucks who actually control the elections and elected officials. They are in it for the money and power and don't give a damn about hot-button voter issues like race relations, guns or abortions, except in that the issues keep the people at each other's throats, busy hating each other, while they are being robbed blind.

Our nation is not "falling apart," it has been carefully disassembled by decades hate presented as "news." It has been a well orchestrated program and has produced the desired results. We are so evenly split that there is no way that we will ever fix our real problems. You have to give the bastards credit where it is due; propaganda works.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. It's true at the party level as well; haven't you been paying attention to Republicans? (n/t)

[roamer65]

7. The differences will be very stark between the states when Roe v Wade is overturned.

It’s coming in a few months.

We are in for a 1850’s redux.

Rough ride coming…hang on.